


Goddess of Peace

by lovcats



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Romance, sexual development
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-15 23:16:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3465638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovcats/pseuds/lovcats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During the war, desperate survival mode forestalled relationship worries. Frank finds that peacetime is different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goddess of Peace

**Author's Note:**

> Rated M for "F" word. Sexual content is mild.
> 
> Set after the Giant War

Peacetime takes some getting used to. Perspectives shift, previously irrelevant things become important, and previously important things become priorities; space opens up on the priority list through the decreased attention needed for survival.

The newly important things in Praetor Frank Zhang's life were mundane: military discipline, paperwork, and diplomacy.

The newly prioritized (and obsessive and agonizing) issue in his life was his relationship with Hazel. On one hand, it was amazing! Peace and stability opened up a vista of the future that Frank hadn't dared to look at before. On the other hand, the love of his life was objectively, at the current time, way too young for him. Though highly skilled in combat, magic, and her powers; she had fallen behind on normal child development. Her mother had exploited, blamed and used her instead of nurturing her; which made Hazel's bravery and coping skills all the more surprising. Seventy years of displacement in time didn't do Hazel any favors as she caught up on normal kid things, such as “the three R's” education, exploration, creativity, and play.

Frank's love for Hazel was profound, but not sexual. She was barely 14. And he was not just a decent guy, he was a Zhang. He had to live up to his family honor, which was not a burden, but a privilege; not the weight of generations, but the love of his _mother_. So he hoped that one day in the future he and Hazel would become lovers and partners. But that was impossible now, with Hazel embodying both the shocking giftedness and naivete of a Joan of Arc.

He would have to live like a monk, he decided. He would compartmentalize his sexual and romantic feelings. (To even fantasize about fucking Hazel felt like pedophilia.) To solemnize his resolution, he brought a bouquet of roses to Venus' temple, which he regretted when the Lady herself arrived, cheerfully dispensing wise but embarrassing advice. “Love yourself fully, Frank,” she told him. “Don't let that emotional/sexual separation become a habit, or you'll regret it when you get sexual with Hazel.”

After that it took Frank two days to comfortably meet Hazel's eyes again, and another three before he “loved himself.” But when the embarrassment subsided, Frank found such a great measure of peace, ease, and joy in both his romance and his sexual practice, that he thanked the goddess for her advice. He didn't know if he was experiencing her blessing, or if her advice was just that effective. Venus' voice chuckled in his head, and explained, “My dear, my advice is my blessing.”


End file.
